Apple’s A6 processor may come courtesy of TSMC, Samsung left to wonder why

Apple’s fondness for anorexic handhelds knows no bounds, and if this alleged handle the Asian foundry holds water, expect to look its waistband tighten further. Rumoured back before the iPad 2 launch, the home-that-Steve-built’s reportedly been eyeing Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp to supply an ‘A6′ for its upcoming iPhone refresh. While it is easy to dismiss this purported move as a right away diss to Samsung, what’s much more likely is that Cupertino’s undertaking a competitive little bit of size does matter — specifically, the A5′s 45nm process. A transition to newer, lower power 28nm ARM chips would give Jonathan Ives’ employer a definite market advantage, dwarfing even TSMC’s current 40nm within the process. While it is all still just speculation for now, only time and an iPhone 5 tear-down will tell of course.

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This post is tagged: Jonathan Ives, market advantage, semiconductor, speculation, transition